Overview
- The Turkish Air Force C-130 Hercules departed Ganja, Azerbaijan and crashed a few kilometers inside Georgia’s Sighnaghi region shortly after crossing the border without issuing a distress signal, according to Georgian authorities.
- Turkey said all 20 military personnel aboard were killed and published the victims’ names, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported that 19 bodies have been recovered and one remains unaccounted for at the site.
- Investigators recovered the aircraft’s black boxes as Georgia opened a formal inquiry, with Turkish, Azerbaijani and Georgian agencies coordinating recovery and investigative efforts.
- Amateur videos shared online depict the transport spinning downward with a white vapor trail and appearing partially disintegrated before impact, imagery that officials have not used to draw conclusions.
- An Azerbaijani news agency reported preliminary observations of no external impact or explosives on the fuselage, a claim not confirmed by Turkish authorities and subject to the ongoing investigation.